I'm getting read to cut out a run of kits and am planning on cutting my own sticks from sheets to minimize the cost. Maybe it's just old age kicking in, but I'm having trouble coming up with an easy way to calculate how many sheets I need of each size to get the required number of sticks for the run of kits. Most of the sticks wil be 3/8" thick in anywhere from 3/16-3/4" wide. Will also need some 1/4", but that will be easy to figure. What I'm really looking for is maybe a spreadsheet where I could put in the number of sticks of each size I need and it would tell me how many sheets to order. Plywood is also a needed item, which adds another layer of complexity because now i'm not just ripping strips, I have to cut squares, rectangles, etc...

It seems simple at first, but I need to take into account saw kerf witdh, sticks that could be cut from remainders from other sheets, etc. If I was only cutting one kit, it wouldn't be a problem, but extra material adds up quickly and increases the overall cost. Does anyone know of a program or something I could use to help me figure this stuff out?

I found a few programs designed to help woodworkers figure out how to lay out parts on a sheet of ply to get the best fit so I am going to see if I can adapt one of those to work for smaller boards like we use.

I'm getting read to cut out a run of kits and am planning on cutting my own sticks from sheets to minimize the cost. Maybe it's just old age kicking in, but I'm having trouble coming up with an easy way to calculate how many sheets I need of each size to get the required number of sticks for the run of kits. Most of the sticks wil be 3/8" thick in anywhere from 3/16-3/4" wide. Will also need some 1/4", but that will be easy to figure. What I'm really looking for is maybe a spreadsheet where I could put in the number of sticks of each size I need and it would tell me how many sheets to order. Plywood is also a needed item, which adds another layer of complexity because now i'm not just ripping strips, I have to cut squares, rectangles, etc...

It seems simple at first, but I need to take into account saw kerf witdh, sticks that could be cut from remainders from other sheets, etc. If I was only cutting one kit, it wouldn't be a problem, but extra material adds up quickly and increases the overall cost. Does anyone know of a program or something I could use to help me figure this stuff out?

Thanks,

AutoCAD could easily do it for you.

Other way is making scaled sheets from cardboard and cutting pieces of paper also scaled that represent the groups of similar parts.